Cracked gas line causes tense moments at Heartland Health Care

By ROOP RAJ
MyFox Detroit Reporter

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (MyFox Detroit) -- There was nearly three hours of waiting inside of a dining hall at the Heartland Health Care facility in West Bloomfield on Farmington Road.  Around 8:45 a.m., construction crews redoing the parking lot and first floor cracked a two inch hole in a gas line.  74 people were evacuated from one wing into another and kept inside the building standing by to move at a moment's notice.

"They just rushed everybody out into the hall where they made sure we were all safe," said Shirley Via.

However, for the people inside every second was filled with questions and worries as to whether something would spark causing an explosion.

"You didn't know if the building was going to blow up or not.  You know, accidents happen.  It scared me," Via remarked.

Fox 2 has learned that there were flags on the ground in the area that they were excavating to make sure that the subcontractors didn't hit a gas line, but we do understand that there was some area that there were questions as to whether or not it was labeled appropriately.  That's what investigators are looking at now.

Management from Heartland said their staff responded appropriately and immediately.

Why the line was hit?  T. H. Marsh Construction out of Royal Oak is working to find out.  A possibly explosive situation was diffused.  Family members of patients rushed in to see if everything was all right.

Despite the worries of the people inside, investigators told Fox 2 they were ready to move all 74 people outside of the building.  In fact, they had ambulances staged just a half block away to make sure, if necessary, they could move them out at a moment's notice.